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The Spanish Embassy in Saudi Arabia, in the heart of Riyadh's Diplomatic District, was the scene of the meeting between Florentino Pérez and Joan Laporta after ten months of criticism and sit-ins. On Saturday afternoon, the club was in charge of organising the official dinner of the Spanish Super Cup, prior to this Sunday's final between Real Madrid and Barcelona, and the presidents of both clubs were the main guests.

Florentino and Laporta had not seen each other since March 2, 2023 at the Santiago Bernabéu, in the first leg of the Copa del Rey semi-finals. An appointment that happened before the explosion of the Negreira Case and the fact that Madrid appeared as a private prosecutor in the trial. That move by the Whites' board of directors angered Laporta, who began to talk about this "sociological madridismo".

As a result of the information about the Negreira case and the "tension" in the atmosphere, Pérez decided not to go to the Camp Nou in March, for the La Liga match, and neither did he show up in Barcelona for the second leg of the semifinals of the Copa del Rey.

The Super League project, in which they are still together, has kept them in the same media trench against LaLiga and UEFA, but Florentino was not present at the Montjuic derby either.

This week, in Riyadh, it seems that the truce has been signed. All this after the ruling of the Court of Justice of the European Union in favour of the Super League. Florentino arrived on Monday night and has taken advantage of these days to get closer to the Saudi fans and to have meetings with ACS collaborators. Laporta, on the other hand, arrived on Thursday from Bali, where he went for a personal matter.

This Saturday, at dinner, they met Pedro Rocha, acting president of the RFEF, and Luis de la Fuente, national coach. Pérez accompanied by José Ángel Sánchez, general director of the club, Santiago Solari and Roberto Carlos. And Laporta for Enric Masip and Mikel Camps, the manager who called Vinicius a "clown".

Global relevance

Florentino Pérez highlighted that both finalist teams have 1,000 million followers on social networks around the world, which shows their global importance. "Tomorrow's match will be a celebration of football, of a football that knows no borders," he said.

Barça president Joan Laporta, for his part, wanted to point out his satisfaction with the place where the Super Cup is played and the international visibility it allows them. "Thanks to the RFEF for giving this competition the global relevance that it is being given by playing here," he said.

Pedro Rocha, on behalf of the RFEF, closed the floor in the midst of the spirit of transformation of football that drives this Super Cup. "This competition is very important for us, as it allows Spanish football to open up to the world," he stressed.

"The Spanish Super Cup is a unique competition that allows you to experience the best football, as will be demonstrated tomorrow here in Riyadh; and here are its greatest representatives, who in turn are the representatives of many people who live, enjoy and feel the passion of football," said Rocha, before insisting: "Thank you for that, you make this sport great."

  • Spanish Super Cup
  • Real Madrid
  • FC Barcelona
  • Joan Laporta
  • Florentino Perez Rodriguez